Water-wheel



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

I. F. DAVIS. WaterWheel.

Patented 'April'12, 1881i" MPElim; FHOTaLITHOGMPMER. WASHINGTON, D C.

{No.Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

I. P. DAVIS. Water Wh'eel'.

No. 240,102. Patented April 12,1881.

LIV VEN-TOR N. PETERS. PNOTO-UTHOGRAPHER. WASHMGTON. D O.

UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE.

ISAAC F. DAVIS, OF GREENSBOROUGH, NORTH CAROLINA.

WATER-WH EEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 240,102, dated April12, 1881.

Application filed September 3, 1880. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ISAAC F. DAVIS, a citizen of the United States, resident at Greensborough, in the county ofGuilford and State of North Carolina, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Water-\Vheels, and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings,and to letters or figures of reference marked thereon, which form apartof this specification.

My invention has for its objects to provide an improved turbine wheelwhich shall be simple and cheap in construction and strong, durable, andcapable of running at high speed with moderate pressure or acomparatively low head of water. My wheel is an outward-flow wheel,taking its water from the inside and striking the buckets with a directimpulse and discharging it freely, but in such a way that both theweightof the water and the force of its discharge are utilized indriving the wheel. I attain these objects by the mechanism illustratedin the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a partial plan view,a portion of the shaft and its supporting-arms being bisected. Fig. 2 isa vertical sectional view. Fig. 3 is a side elevation; and Fig. 4 is adetail view of one of the buckets.

Referring by letter to the drawings, A designates the stationary rim orannular supporting-plate, which sets in the floor of the penstock. Theinterior of the supporting-plateA is of the same diameter as thediameter of the wheel B at its largest or upper interior diameter.

The chutes O, which are of semi-crescent shape, are secured to thesupporting-plate A and are upon the inside of the wheel, so that thewheel will revolve around and under them.

The supporting-plate A is provided on its under face with two annulardownwardly-projecting rings or flanges, l) D, made solid with saidplate, and between which the rim of the water-wheel runs. The inner ringor flange,D, prevents the water from running over the top of the wheel,while the outer ring, D, holds it in its track. The chutes 0 curvedownwardly and inwardly to a stationary sleeve, E, and form the sidesand bottom of a basin, F.

Gates G are pivoted to blocks H upon the bottom of the basin F, and areconnected, by pivoted rods I, to a sliding sleeve, J, upon the shaft K.

Arms L, three in number, rise from the supporting-plate A, having abearing, M, at their junction, in which the upper end of the shaft Krevolves. The lower end of the shaft K is stepped on a point, N, securedin a threearmed bed-piece, O, and rods 1? rising from said arms aresecured to the supporting-plate by nuts.

The wheel B has its floats or buckets Q, cast with the rim and its hubS, and they are cymbiform and curved, as shown. The openings betweenthem at their lower ends are smaller than the spaces between them attheir upper ends, and they are inclined upward from the bottom of thewheel. The hub is an annular disk keyed to the shaft K. The inclinationof the buckets upward is at an angle of about forty-five degrees, andthis inclination, together with their peculiar form, gives the shape ofan ordinary basin.

A lever, T, is pivoted to one of the support in g-arms L, and has acollar, U, which encircles the sliding sleeve J, and is pivoted thereto,so that by elevating or depressing the lever the gates may be opened orclosed. The gates are of about the shape of the mouths of the chutes,

and, being pivoted at the bottom, they may be only partially opened whena full head of wateris not needed, and will cause the water to flowagainst the tops of the buckets, and, owing to the shape of the wheel,the weight of the water will be all utilized as well as the force of thedischarge. The lower ends of the buckets hav- 3. In a turbine wheel, thegates G, pivoted to the bottom of the basin F, formed by the chutes (J,in combination with the rods I, sliding-sleeve J, and lever T, pivotedto one of the supporting-arms L, substantially as and for the purposesset forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ISAAC F. DAVIS. Witnesses:

A. P. EcKEL, I. T. RosEMoND.

